By Dan Gunderson, MPR News
About the only place to find snow in the Red River Valley this winter is near an obstruction where the incessant winds leave drifts. This part of the state can see 500 hours of windblown snow each winter.
Snow fences play a key role in keeping the blowing snow from clogging highways.
You might have seen snow fences along Interstate 94, or state highways in western Minnesota. Some are simply rows of corn left in a field. Others are structures made of composite materials.
They all have one job: Break the wind so drifting snow piles up before it reaches the highway.
North Dakota State University associate professor Mijia Yang walks through ankle-deep snow to get to a snow fence stretching about a third of a mile along U.S. Highway 10 east of Moorhead.
“This is our solar snow fence,” said Yang, who is leading a research project in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
This 100-foot section of fence is dual-purpose. Instead of brown rails made of flexible composite material designed to stop snow, this fence is made of 6-inch-wide solar panels with spaces in between to look and act like a fence.
It’s the first of its kind in the U.S., according to Yang.
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